Plowing on gravel

[Earl Ohl]

I have a loader mounted blade on the Kubota L4240. It does fine on the black top and you can run the loader in float. I am having trouble from keeping it from digging in on gravel. I can work the loader up and down myself but my driveway is not very level and it is hard and I can only run 2.1 MPH doing that. I have seen guys with trucks plow on gravel and not dig in and the same for the highway department on back roads. I was on a dirt road today that had been plowed by VDOT with a loader and it was not all messed up. I have heard of people splitting a piece of pipe and putting it on the cutting edge but I think the blade still may sink in. One thing that would help would be a good hard freeze but where I live the ground is constantly freezing and thawing. How should my ski shoes be running, level or slightly higher in front? The ski shoes are 6.5" and they are round. Is there any trick to it?

On gravel I usually put the front blade in float & plow backwards if I'm having trouble with the snow plow digging in. If the gravel drive is frozen I don't have this trouble.

 

[94BULLITT]

I have been doing some research. I have only found one place that tells you a angle for the cutting edge and they say 15* from perpendicular. The diagram also pictures a plow with casters. http://www.henkemfg.com/images/ttsuyp.pdf I found a place that sells wheels for plows.Home of Snow-Wheel Systems I also found a place that had bunch of ski shoe designs and caster but I can't find it now. I am sure which way I am going to go yet.

 

[DKCDKC]

I have a mile long gravel drive that goes up and down fairly steep hills. I don't have the funds for a snow blade or blower, so I use my FEL and a regular HD 3 pt scraper blade. When the ground is soft as it is now, I just have to ride it carefully to avoid too much gravel being pulled up. However, I had the road on the hills made fairly wide on purpose so that I could scrape a traffic lane in the middle and the pile remains on the edge of the gravel surface. If the snow pile melts, I just run the blade over it lightly to move gravel back to the center. If we see a spell of warmer weather following a snow, I run the blade to pull the pile back to the center, then do a run with the blade or FEL flat to smooth it out a bit. The presence of some gravel in the snow pile and the rough texture causes it to melt quickly. If I get really heavy snows, I have one of my hunters run in and out with a big loader leaving a few inches of snow, then I go to work. That approach normally works well - since I have 4WD vehicles to go in and out.

However, right now I have a bit of a problem. We had a few inches of snow Christmas and will get a few more tomorrow - but the weather will not warm up. And we have an annual New Years Eve Open House that draws up to 60 folks - most of whom drive regular 2WD cars. I'll be working hard Saturday afternoon and maybe Sunday to get a surface they can pass. I'd hate to have to cancel the party. It's going to be a challenge.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I have a mile long gravel drive that goes up and down fairly steep hills. I don't have the funds for a snow blade or blower, so I use my FEL and a regular HD 3 pt scraper blade. When the ground is soft as it is now, I just have to ride it carefully to avoid too much gravel being pulled up. However, I had the road on the hills made fairly wide on purpose so that I could scrape a traffic lane in the middle and the pile remains on the edge of the gravel surface. If the snow pile melts, I just run the blade over it lightly to move gravel back to the center. If we see a spell of warmer weather following a snow, I run the blade to pull the pile back to the center, then do a run with the blade or FEL flat to smooth it out a bit. The presence of some gravel in the snow pile and the rough texture causes it to melt quickly. If I get really heavy snows, I have one of my hunters run in and out with a big loader leaving a few inches of snow, then I go to work. That approach normally works well - since I have 4WD vehicles to go in and out.




However, right now I have a bit of a problem. We had a few inches of snow Christmas and will get a few more tomorrow - but the weather will not warm up. And we have an annual New Years Eve Open House that draws up to 60 folks - most of whom drive regular 2WD cars. I'll be working hard Saturday afternoon and maybe Sunday to get a surface they can pass. I'd hate to have to cancel the party. It's going to be a challenge.

I sanded all my hills last night with salted sand from the town stockpile. About 100 shovels full is a good load for my 1/2 ton frontier PU. Each shovel full spread with a twist of the wrist at the end of the swing to get it to fan out. If your street dept. doesn't stockpile it or let taxpayers use it you can get concrete sand from the nearest plant.

 

[MF 1532]

My store parking lot is gravel , the fel is good for some things , but I have been experimenting with my boxblade . I have the height control set just above the rock . Whats left behind melts . I push some with it , and I also drive forward , scoop it and dump it , then I stack it . I know everybody has their favorite way , this has been working very well for me and the last 12'' .:thumbsup:

 

[94BULLITT]

The ground was frozen at a few spots were some snow piles had melted. I tried the blade there and it did not sink into the gravel. I am still thinking about the best way to remedy this problem.

 

[Red Horse]

Until you get a good freeze and base, going slow is the best option. Also having a fixed blade can wreck havoc on any crown you may have had. I used to remove the crown BEFORE the season prior to getting a plow that floats. I knew it was going to happen and at least i had some control where it ended up! LOL!
As you are well aware, there is too much weight to float the FEL and what works the best for me is this:

I raise the plow about a foot and angle the blade to the right. Because my blade rotates around the center the right side will then hang lower. As I lower it the right side skid hits first and as soon as the left side skid hits, I stop. I make sure the bucket indicator is level and plow away. Works great for me!

View attachment 294958

Dave, Nice plow- What brand is that? And if you don't mind, $$??. I'm getting tired of my "junk yard dogs" Attached picture shows front of Fisher-I think its an "H". A buddy gave me a set of new skid shoes (Bought a new F-250 and doesn't use the shoes) so I fabricated up an attachment point per picture. Bottom line they help but will still dig a bit-catch 22 as I see it-either you move gravel with cutting edge or the shoes do damage. Solution is FROST! this last 8" storm we had surface was frozen, so off came the shoes. Until surface is frozen, trial and error as I see it-fine line between moving snow or moving gravel!

 

[Deerherd]

Its an HLA 2000 and cost about $3500 here's a link:

HLA Snow

I've tried a lot of blades and this by far is the best I have ever used. You would be surprised how many blades aren't designed to "roll" the snow and that contributes to the digging in and unwanted removal of gravel from the drive. Too many blades just push snow. It also has a crossover relief valve that allows the blade to swing around if you accidently hit something hard. It also has lateral float that follows the crown of the drive and moves a lot less gravel. It's not cheap but man is it sweet!

 

[DKCDKC]

Got the gravel drive cleared for the New Years Party... But it was slow. I made several trips scraping with the rear blade tweaking it carefully to minimize gravel pickup, and to keep the pile of snow and gravel still on the gravel surface so it can be recovered. As indicated above, I had to completely clear the drive for visiting 2WD sedans coming to the party. Since I have curves and hills - and curves on hills - I could have no slick spots.

And I had to do a parking area. And I did after some hours work. After the scraping, I remounted my Ratchett Rake and went over spaces the blade did not seek to reach, or to get all the ice. It busted up the ice and gravel and the ice melted within a few hours.

All made it in to the party smoothly - and enjoyed the solar Christmas lights I rig along the drive in the deepest forest each year. It's neat to see trees in the middle of nowhere festooned with glowing balls, or color-changing LED stars floating in the bushes.

Normally I have to only scrape a little to make it passable for my 4WD vehicles, but this was New Years, and we've only canceled the event once in 25 years for weather - in the middle of our 48 inch December-January snowfalls five years ago. Don't want to do that again.

 

[Red Horse]

Its an HLA 2000 and cost about $3500 here's a link:

HLA Snow

I've tried a lot of blades and this by far is the best I have ever used. You would be surprised how many blades aren't designed to "roll" the snow and that contributes to the digging in and unwanted removal of gravel from the drive. Too many blades just push snow. It also has a crossover relief valve that allows the blade to swing around if you accidently hit something hard. It also has lateral float that follows the crown of the drive and moves a lot less gravel. It's not cheap but man is it sweet!

thx Dave-nice! And goodpoint on the "rolling" action